AG Gas has formed development alliances and grant proposal partnerships with four California institutions that standardize accreditation for global crop irrigation and management practices, providing third party, independent research to verify plant growth increases, water conservation methods, and other aspects of the technology.

Click on the links for more information about our partners.

University of California, Davis

Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, CA (Cal Poly)

Center for Irrigation Technology (CIT) at California State University, Fresno – California Agriculture Technology Institute (CATI)

Kearney Agricultural Center (KAC) at University of California

University of California, Davis
Mr. Theodore C. Hsiao, Ph.D. – Professor of Hydrologic Sciences, University of California Davis – Dr. Hsiao’s research interests include: interaction of plants with their hydro-environments, both soil and atmospheric, and the underlying physiological and physical processes. Plant growth as affected by water stress, canopy transpiration and photosynthesis in relation to micrometeorology, crop water requirements, water use efficiency in relation to yield and global change, and the role of plants in hydrological processes.

Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC)
Dr. Charles M. Burt - Chairman of the Board - Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC)
Professor - BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department at California Polytechnic State University at San Louis Obispo California (Cal Poly) - Dr. Charles Burt is one of America’s (the world’s) foremost authorities on irrigation mechanisms, irrigation operations, and irrigated crop production. Dr. Burt has authored or co-authored 120 articles and study guides related, to on-farm irrigation, canal modernization, and efficiency. Dr. Burt was the Irrigation Association’s Person of the Year in 1997 and California Irrigation Institute’s Person of the Year in 2000. Dr. Burt’s academic credentials include: B.S., Soil Science, Cal Poly; M.S., Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, UT; and Ph. D., Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, UT.

Center for Irrigation Technology (CIT)
Mr. Edward M. Norum – Agricultural Engineer, Center for Irrigation Technology, California State University, Fresno – Mr. Norum has over 25 years of worldwide experience designing, testing and implementing irrigation systems in Africa, Middle East, Europe, North America, Central America, Latin America and the West Indies. He has authored 29 separate publications including technical papers, articles and chapters for books on irrigation-related topics. Additionally, he holds seven patents for precision irrigation valves, flow control, and discharge uniformity.

Ms. Florence Cassel-Shamasarkar, Ph.D. – Soil and Water Scientist, Center For Irrigation Technology, California State University, Fresno - Dr. Florence Cassel-Sharmasarkar obtained her B.S. and M.S. in Agricultural Engineering from the Ecole Supérieure d'Agriculture in Angers, France, and a Ph.D. in Soil-Water Physics and Environmental Sciences at the University of Wyoming. Dr. Cassel-Sharmasarkar’s expertise includes: soil salinity, canal seepage using electromagnetic induction methods, drainage water reuse, precision farming, land application of effluent waters, micro-volume irrigation scheduling, trap cropping, biological weed management, water flow and chemical transport modeling, geospatial, economic and sensitivity analyses.

Mr. Dave Goorahoo, Ph.D. – Soil Scientist, Center for Irrigation Technology, California State University, Fresno – Dr. Goorahoo’s research interests are: Vadose zone and groundwater hydrology with an emphasis on contaminant transport modeling spatial variability of soil hydraulic and transport properties, interdisciplinary investigation of the environmental impacts of agricultural and industrial practices, and the interaction of nutrient cycling and transport of water and chemicals.

Kearney Agricultural Center (KAC)
Mr. Larry E. Williams, Ph.D. – Professor, Department of Viticulture & Enology, University of California Kearney Agricultural Center, Davis – Dr. Williams is one of California’s leading authorities on vineyards and grape production. Larry is well respected within the state by individual vineyardists and the grape industry as a whole. Dr. Williams has been a member of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC-Davis since November, 1982. Dr. Williams' applied research interests include irrigation and fertilization management of grapevines used for raisin, table and wine grape production. He also has conducted basic research on vine water relations, mineral nutrition and carbon and nitrogen partitioning in grapevines. His research plots are located in all major grape-growing regions of California, from the Coachella and Temecula Valleys in the southern portion of the state to Napa and Sonoma Counties in the north. These studies were done to determine how much water grapevines use under non-stressed conditions to help grape growers schedule the timing and amount of irrigations at these locations. He has also developed a model to predict water use of Thompson Seedless grapevines and is developing models for both water use and carbon assimilation on other cultivars. He is also publishing the results of a graduate student studying water relations of native North American Vitis species grown under soil water deficits. The results from this study are expected to assist grape breeders in developing drought tolerant rootstocks.